the love factor
by musicwillsaveusall
Summary: When you exit your comfort zone for the first time in your life you are lost and ready to fall, but someone is there to catch you and never let you go. Daya
1. Chapter 1 - Auditions

**THE LOVE FACTOR**

Hi, so this is my first fanfiction ever. The story has been in my head for a long time and tonight I've decided to write it down. English is not my first language so excuse my mistakes. I hope you like it! G

Disclaimer – I do not own the characters

_Chapter 1 – Auditions_

Denver Arena, Denver (CO). 10:07 a.m.

I've never seen so many people all gathered in one place in all my life. I've been to several concerts but, in comparison to **this** crowd, those were pretty much like the Corn Festival I always used to go to when I was a kid. People everywhere, chatting, reading, listening to music, drinking one bottle of water after the other (bless my mama for giving me such a strong bladder, the heat is almost unbearable right now, and my low pressure doesn't help at all). But most of all you could hear people singing, constantly, everywhere. Rap songs, pop songs, R&B, rock, punk, it was like being in the middle of Coachella, only 100 times bigger and louder.

I feel so damn out of place: this is not where I'm supposed to be and the only thing I hear right now is my brain screaming, "RUN YOU FOOL".  
Axel can feel my uneasiness, anybody could if they just paid some kind of attention to the girl in the purple shirt and yellow sneakers (oddest combination, I know, but they've been my lucky charms for years now).

"Earth to Naya… Naya? NAYA MARIE RIVERA"  
After staring at my feet for a very long time now I realize that Axel is looking at me as if I was crazy or numb, or both.  
"… uhm sorry what? I was.."  
"… Trying to make your shoes look like actual shoes and not dumpster material?"  
"HEY don't insult my babies! What were you saying you moron?"  
"I, your amazingly fantastic and superb friend, was trying to get you out of the bubble you've been lost in for the past 10 minutes. What's going on? Are you feeling sick again? 'Cause there's no way in hell I can take your place, you know I can't even sing Happy Birthday without making my little sis cry"  
I look at my friend's expression, a mix of worry and sympathy, and it hits me for the first time today that I'm actually **here**, in line, with other godknowshowmanypeople going after the dream they've probably had since they were little children, or that's what I've heard many of them say in the last 2 hours.  
"I'm – I'm fine" I say "It's just really hot today and… yeah, don't worry".

After a second or two Axel just nods and passes me another bottle of water: he knows perfectly that I'm 2 seconds away from freaking out, but he also knows that talking about it won't help me, at all.

Time seems to pass as slowly as ever, but fortunately I have my "Guru" (as Axel would like me to call him, never going to actually happen bro, sorry, it's too weird, even for me) by my side, who has been trying to distract me in anyway possible, so that I don't lose the last neuron I have by over analyzing and obsessing on what's going to happen in about an hour and a half.  
If those dbags of my ex high school classmates saw where I was now and knew what I was about to do they wouldn't believe it for a second: this is not what the old me would have done. The old me would still be in Boulder by now, and wouldn't have hopped on the first bus this morning with Axel, a guy I have only known for a month, to come here in Denver.

Damn that night he heard me singing in the kitchen while doing the dishes: I was 110% sure I was home alone (big fat mistake) because I would **never** sing in front of anybody. So while I was putting the last forks and plates back to their places I was singing Bohemian Rhapsody and dancing (if you can call that dancing) without a care in the world, until I heard someone clapping: after turning around, Axel's smug face was right there in front of me, with that expression that just says "gotcha motherfucker".

So after that episode he had been bugging me for one week straight, restlessly, telling me that I had a great voice and asking me why he never knew about that and yada yada yada. As I mentioned before, I told him that no one had ever heard me singing, and there was a reason for that.

"Oh sush you idiot" says my so called friend " You have a great voice and you know it"  
"No, you moron, I don't. Can we just stop talking about this, please?"  
"Of course. But there's a price"  
"Of course there is one, there's always one when you're involved. Shoot"  
Piercing blue eyes look mischievously at me, and I know I'm in trouble, big trouble.  
"I'll stop bothering you – "  
"… As if that would be possible in a million years" I say, after throwing him the tennis ball we've been playing with for the past hour.  
"If you continue to interrupt me I swear I'll blast the registration of you singing _Sweet Home Alabama _while driving with my windows down" he says  
"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU…!? Whatever, moron…"  
"What was that?"  
"Nothing…"  
"As I was saying before some rude weirdo interrupted me, we'll stop talking about the 'accident' if…"  
"If what?" I say, kinda tired of his games  
"If you, my friend, audition for The X Factor in two weeks in Denver"

Shock, incredulousness, confusion and then just pure and simple laughter: after hearing Axel's big smart proposal I just laughed my ass off for some good 15 minutes, while he kept telling me that I should totally audition and giving me that crap he calls inspiring pep talk.  
After regaining the ability to breathe properly I just look at him and say, "You're not serious, right? You can't be serious Axel Robert Williams"  
And the only response I get from him is his typical shit-eating grin.

After this followed 3 days of hell, with him trying to convince me in every possible human way to participate, even using the godparents card (that one earned him a punch to the shoulder he's not going to forget easily). So after many discussions on the matter I decided to give it a try, mostly just to shut Axel's mouth once and for all.

And that's the reason why I'm here now, sweating and repeating in my head that I could do this, that I would just suck big time as usual and then go home and forget about all of this. Easy peasy.

The hours of waiting in line had finally passed, and I found myself with other 10 people in the room behind the big scary stage, freaking out like never before.

"Calm down or you're going to have a stroke"  
"I am going to cause **you **a stroke Axel: why on earth did I agree to do this? Do you hear them? All these people are amazing for fuck's sake, and I'm only a girl from a small town that hates talking and being in the spotlight in general, HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO SING IN FRONT OF 3.000 PEOPLE WITHOUT CHOKING OR FORGETTING THE WORDS OR…!? Jesus I'm going to kill you I swear".

My friend could see that I was freaking out big time now, and that I was having trouble breathing, so he puts his hands on my shoulders and says "Calm down Spanish Chuck Norris, everything is going to be just fine. You're not going to die or make a fool of yourself up there BUT, if this remote possibility happens, we're just going to get out of here, go get some Taco Bell and then play COD for the rest of the night ok?".  
I can see in his eyes that he actually believes the things he's saying, that he really believes in me and in the possibility of me not messing this whole thing up.  
I take several deep breaths and smile weakly at him, but the panic goes away for only few seconds, because a guy taps my shoulder and tells me that is my turn now. I just stand there, feeling like a salt statue, when I feel Axel pushing me up the stairs: I take few steps up and then I turn around to look at my friend, who only says "Go get them panda" (don't ask why calls me that, I can't even with this guy).  
I smile at him, grateful to have someone like him by my side now, and then take the last few steps and reach the center of the stage.

The first thing I see, after I regain my sight, stupid blinding show lights, it's simply the most beautiful, breathtaking and mesmerizing eyes I have ever seen in my entire life. "If I could lose myself in those chocolate pools and never get out I'd be the happiest person to ever exist in this damn universe" I think before I finally realize that I'm on a stage, in front of too many people for my taste and that **the **Simon Cowell is talking to me.

"Excuse me what?" I say: way to go Naya, perfect, you're an absolute genius.


	2. Chapter 2 - Auditions (part II)

_Chapter 2 – Auditions (part II)_

**A/N Hey everybody! I wanted to thank all of you for your lovely reviews **

**I just wanted to let you know that I'm currently studying for two exams right now (damn college) so I don't plan of updating this fanfic a specific day of the week. However, that doesn't mean that you'll get a chapter every two weeks or so, I think I'll be pretty regular on posting new chapters if the inspiration flow keeps coming.**

**You'll have to be patient with me because now I have to think how the story is going to develop, I don't want to rush things and ruin everything.**

**Thanks again for your kind words, enjoy! G**

I could hear the laughter coming from the audience: it looked like they were having the time of their lives seeing me making a fool of myself. I'm always good with first impressions as you can imagine; I'm already classified as the weirdo. Awesome.

"I asked you what's your name darling" says Simon Cowell, wearing his usual bored expression.

"Marie. I mean Naya, Marie is my second name"

"Ok Naya Mari-"

"You can just call me Naya, Sir"

"I'll do that if you don't call me sir, it makes me feel old"

"Yes, of course, Sir Simon, got it". The second I realize what I've just said I scratch the back of my neck and look at my worn shoes, a thing I always do when I'm nervous.

I could hear the audience laughing again, but this time it was only a faint background sound, because when I lift my head all my attention is drawn to the three female judges in front of me: but one in particular catches my gaze.

"She's so cute when she laughs" I think, looking at the judge in the middle of the three, who is now looking at me. Oh shit. She's **looking** at me.

"Well tell me something about you, who are you, where do you come from". God bless you Simon Cowell, thanks for saving me from the gazing contest I was miserably failing at.

"Uhm so I'm Naya Marie Rivera, I'm 20 years old and I'm currently in college"

"Oh and what do you study?" says the one and only, drum roll please, Kelly frickin' Rowland

Without going in a full fangirl mode I'm able to say "Languages, I'm on my second year right now"

"What language does you know?" says the judge on Simon's right, Paulina Rubio (ok I admit it, I did look her up on Google before coming here)

"Uhm, well, English, as you can imagine, Spanish and -"

"_Hablas español? ¿Por qué no me lo dijiste antes amor?_" (You speak Spanish? Why didn't you tell me that earlier darling?_)_

I smile at Paulina, but my focus is again on **her**, who is whispering something in Kelly's ear while looking at me once again.

Simon, who looks surprisingly less bored than before, says "So who are you here with today?"

"My friend Axel, who begged me for the last week to tell you Kelly that you're amazing and that if you're… I'm gonna kill him for making me say this…"

"If I'm what?" she says with an amused expression

I sigh before saying "If you're single he's available, THERE! YOU HAPPY NOW AXEL?" I fake shout in the direction of the room next to the stage imagining my friend fist pumping and laughing his ass off. Kelly just smiles at me and I start feeling more and more comfortable up there.

"So no parents with you?" the British judge asks

"No they're back home in Barcelona right now"

There's what you can call an awkward/questioning silence in the room, the judges looking at one another with confused expressions.

Breaking the silence Kelly steps in and says "Back home?"

"Yeah, I'm actually from Barcelona, Spain and – ", before I can even finish the people in the room start whistling and clapping their hands enthusiastically.

"Oh so you're Spanish but you go to college here in America right?"

"No no uhm, I'm here on vacation, it's actually my first time in the USA. My godparents work and have a house here in Colorado, in Boulder precisely " the room erupts in another round of applause "and I'm staying at their place right now. But I live and study in Spain, I'm just staying here for two months to regain what's left of my sanity after this college year".

There comes a loud "Ooooh" of understanding from the seats of the arena, followed by another long silence. Feeling observed I start fiddling with the hem of my shirt, dropping my gaze to the ground for the gazillion time. Man this ground should win a prize for "Best Ground in History" as I can't seem to take my eyes away from it for more than 2 minutes straight.

Sensing my discomfort Simon says, "Do you know any other languages?"

"Yes Sir – I mean Simon, I actually speak Italian" I say, finding the dirt on my left shoe **very** fascinating, since I'm looking at it instead of Simon.

"_Oh really? _".

As if I just burned myself, my head snaps up, and I search almost desperately for the person to whom that mesmerizing voice belongs to, and I find myself staring at those beautiful, captivating chocolate orbs once again.

_Demi_.

She's looking at me, and I'm doing the exact same thing with great, **great** pleasure: I focus on her cheeky grin, her cute dimples, the way her blonde hair falls delicately on both sides of her face and those eyes I seemingly can't stop tearing my gaze away from.

"Can you tell me something in Italian then?" she softly says.

The first thing that comes to my twisted mind is "I'll do whatever you'll ask me to do if you keep looking at me the way you do", and then I mentally slap myself. Twice. Where the hell did that come from?

I take a deep breath and then fix my gaze on her again, something I'm becoming used to and say "_I tuoi occhi sono la cosa più bella che io abbia mai visto in tutta la mia vita" _(Your eyes are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life).

The room is dead still, you could have heard a pin fall and think it was an earthquake or something like that. The tension is so overwhelming I can almost feel it on my skin.

Still looking at me, god why is she looking at me that way, Demi says "And what does that mean? ".

It takes me few seconds to decide to either tell the truth or lie, and I obviously go for the second option.

"It – It means I, uhm, think you're very talented, yes, talented" I stutter, feeling her gaze almost burning me, daring me to look at her in the eyes while bluntly lying to her. I've never been a good liar as you can imagine, so while I was saying that I concentrated on anything but her.

She lets out what feels like a disappointed (why on earth would she be disappointed though?) "Oh", and I feel like telling her what that really meant, but Simon interrupts me and asks me what I was going to sing to them.

Right. **Sing**.

I feel all the 3.216 people of the audience looking at me, probably waiting for me to say something stupid like "I'm going to entertain you with the world famous Lucky Charms commercial jingle".

I am ready for this, I tell myself: ok no, not really but I've been practicing hard this past week and if I suck at least I'll have Taco Bell and COD as a consolation prize as soon as I leave this stage, that right now feels a lot more like a cage.

Ok then, here goes nothing, let's just hope I won't end up fainting, or worse.

I awkwardly cough and say, " Echo by John Walker"

"Ok darling, let's hear it".

I put my hands on the microphone in front of me and then, when I hear the first notes of the song, take a deep breath.

What's that saying? Go big or go home right?

The pressure is almost too much for me to bear, so I close my eyes and just **sing**.

_Hello, hello anybody out there? 'Cause I don't hear a sound.  
Alone, alone I don't really know where the world is, but I miss it now._

I open my eyes, she's right there. I feel like we're the only people in the room.

_I'm out on the edge and I'm screaming my name like a fool at the top of my lungs.  
Sometimes when I close my eyes I pretend I'm all right but it's never enough.  
'Cause my echo, echo is the only voice coming back.  
My shadow, shadow is the only friend that I have._

I start slowly swaying, feeling the song taking completely over me.

I take two steps forward, slowly but firmly.

_Listen, listen I will take a whisper if that's all you have to give.  
But it isn't, isn't you could come and save me and try to chase it crazy right out of my head._

_I'm out on the edge and I'm screaming my name like a fool at the top of my lungs.  
Sometimes when I close my eyes I pretend I'm all right but it's never enough.  
'Cause my echo, echo is the only voice coming back.  
My shadow, shadow is the only friend that I have._

The music pervades the now dead silent room.

I stop just in front of the judge's table, take a breath and raise my right arm, just like I was about to open my wings and fly away.

_I don't wanna be down and I just wanna feel alive and get to see your face again.  
I don't wanna be down and I just wanna feel alive and get to see your face again.  
_

_Once again just my echo, my shadow, you're my only friend._

_And I'm out on the edge and I'm screaming my name like a fool at the top of my lungs.  
Sometimes when I close my eyes I pretend I'm all right but it's never enough_

_'Cause my echo, echo.  
Oh my shadow, shadow._

I close my eyes again and pour all I have in that last line_  
Hello, hello anybody out there.._

The room is silent. Awesome, I fucked up, nothing new.

Feeling the tears coming I close my eyes, not wanting to see the disappointed/disgusted faces of the crowd and judges before me.

As I feel the first tear strolling down my face I hear it, loud and clear: cheers, whistles, applauses coming from every side of the room.

But what strikes me the most when I open my eyes is seeing them, the almighty **judges**, all standing up: Simon was giving me his usual wink, Paulina was clapping and making the heart sign, Kelly was inciting the crowd to clap louder.

And she was just there. Looking at me with an unreadable expression.

I hold her gaze for a couple seconds.

It was like during the song, just me and her in an empty room.

And then..

A **smile**.

A big, genuine smile erupts on her face. And damn, that feels _so_ good.

While I feel like my heart and every single organ of my body is about to explode the crowd quiets down and the judges take their rightful places.

"Guuuuuuuurrrrrlllllll!", I don't even have to look at her to know who that voice belongs to. Kelly is now looking at me with an incredulous yet excited expression.

"You know what I love about you? You came on stage and where like 'oh I'm just a shy little girl pay me no attention and then BOOOM girl! Where did that voice come from? It was AH – MAZING my friend, great audition, I'm really excited to see what comes next!" .

Smiling at her I let out a quiet "Thank you", because I don't trust my voice, I'm afraid that I'd come out with some inhuman noises.

Next up is Paulina who says "_Mi amor_, that was soooo good! Like my _chica_ Kelly said you look like a little mouse but when you sings, WOW. Powerful powerful voice! You have a future in this industry my friend, congratulations!"

Simon was just staring at me.

So I stare back until he says " I admit I didn't know the song, but if feels like you really did. It strikes some deep chords doesn't it?"

I just nod, not wanting bad memories to ruin this epic moment.

"You gave it all", continues the male judge "Great voice control, great stage presence, and that final note was absolutely fantastic. I'm really impressed"

"Thank you Simon, it really means more than you can imagine".

And then everything comes back to her, to Demi, who's been scribbling off on her pad while the other judges commented my audition.

I wait for her to say something, hell, if she told me I sucked big time I wouldn't care, at least I would have heard her voice one last time.

I focus on her, trying to absorb every single detail of her beautiful face before she simply says, "There's more underneath what you show, right?".

BAM. I feel like a deer caught in the headlights.

How could have she possibly understood that with just one song? It took years for people around me to just scratch the surface, to take my walls a little bit lower, and it looks like she solved the whole puzzle effortlessly.

The whole arena is looking at me, trying to catch that hidden side of me like she did.

I keep watching her and, without even realizing it, I just say, "I'll guess you'll have to wait and find out".

Cheers erupt from the audience, and I see Simon looking mischievously at me, like he was saying, "Well played".

She just crosses her arms, that beautiful smile never leaving its place.

Knowing that I got even more time that I should have Simon says, "Okay folks, lets vote."

In that exact moment I wasn't (too) nervous: the only singing I ever did in my life was under the shower, when no one else was home, and at the bust stop in the morning, but even there I'm usually looking out for people, because I don't want anyone to hear me.

So if they all said "No" and sent me home I wouldn't be too disappointed, because me singing in front of so many people, on national TV, was already a **big** step forward for me.

"Kelly?" Simon says

"Hell yes baby!"

"Paulina?"

"_Yo digo sí! Absolutamente sí_!"

Two out of four was already a good thing, but now it was Demi's turn, and I really wanted to know her answer.

I nervously pass my hand through my dark hair and wait.

The seconds passing feel like entire lives, but I really don't care, because I have an excuse to appreciate her beauty one more time, and for me it feels like a big win already.

"Demi? Yes or no darling?" , when I hear that "darling" coming from Simon an unexpected jealousy (?) runs through my veins, but I let it slide, because I wanted to hear her answer more than anyting.

Deep, transfixing brown eyes keep staring at me, but I hold her gaze: there's no way I'm letting her see what she's doing to me.

"_Yes_"

The crowd explodes in cheers, a faint buzzing to my ears because all I can hear is that "Yes", over and over and over. I personally never wanted to forget that sound.

We exchange one last look before Simon starts speaking, and my attention is on him again.

"For me is a no.."

Aaaand there it was. I can't say I wasn't expecting it.

The audience voices its disappointment, and I honestly never felt more loved or appreciated in my life like in that precise moment.

"..No way we're going to let you go dear. You've got four big fat yesses, congratulations!"

All I can remember about that moment is the loud screaming, the smiles on people faces and then..

BAM! Something, or better someone, crashes against me: Axel.

He takes me in his arms and starts spinning me around, while I hide my face in the crook of his neck. The world, my world, spins so fast now I feel like I'm flying, and maybe I am, because god this is definitely the greatest moment of my entire life.

My feet touch the ground again, and my new blonde (best)friend takes my face in his hands and shouts "I AM ALWAYS RIGHT YOU FOOL, YOU MADE IT! I KNEW YOU COULD MAKE IT"

I can't stop grinning at him, feeling grateful to have someone like him by my side to share these amazing moments with.

Suddenly I remember we are not alone: I make a small, awkward bow towards the audience and mouth a thank you.

I turn towards Axel, who is making the "call me" thing towards Kelly, who bursts out laughing when she sees me punching him on the shoulder affectionately.

I leave the stage with Axel, who's possibly even more excited than I am but, before the sight of the room disappears completely I glance one last time at her, who's there, smiling. Not only smiling, she's smiling at **me**.

This is going to be pretty interesting, I think.

**Demi's POV**

The audience is chatting, still pretty excited after the last performance, Kelly and Paulina are doing the same but I'm not paying attention to them.

Simon has left his place, going for a smoke probably, so I'm there, still pretty, I don't know, confused maybe? I'm not sure what I'm feeling right now, but I feel warm all over.

"She was pretty good huh?" Simon says, bringing me out of my trance

"No. She's **so** much more than that."

**A/N The song Naya sings is the beautiful Echo by Jason Walker, give it a try **

** watch?v=pxpLxb5jHO0**


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

**A/N Hey guys! Thanks for the amazing reviews, you're awesome!  
****So important things first: because I want not only to tell the Demi/Naya story but also focus on the single characters, there are going to be chapters that don't talk about the X Factor competition itself. I'll tell the story both from Naya's and Demi's POV, and this chapter is an example of it.  
****If you have suggestions/critics feel free to express them, they're very welcome!  
****Hope you like this chapter (it will be a little shorter than the previous one, but it needed to be done, I couldn't rush the story immediately to the next "round" of the show). G  
****P.s I saw that many fanfictions use the past tense and the 3d person to tell the story, I'll try to do that too because I realized it's a better way than the 1****st**** person thing.  
****Thanks for reading and happy holidays folks!**

It felt surreal.  
It felt as if she wasn't on a bus going back to Boulder after the craziest, scariest, most amazing day ever. But it **did** happen. And oh boy, thank God for it.

She woke up that morning feeling like a whole zoo was having a party in her head, took a bus, saw the skyscrapers that implied that she was getting close to Denver, took a cab and got to the Arena, where she waited and waited until...  
She doesn't even remember clearly what happened during her audition.  
The crowd, one of her favorite songs, the applauses, the 4 yesses.  
Everything was slowly coming back to her while looking out of the window of the bus that was bringing her back home, Axel softly snoring next to her.

"_Yes_": **that** she remembered very clearly.  
Blonde hair that she kept wondering how soft would feel if she passed her fingers delicately through them.  
Full lips that teased her, that almost dared her to press them again hers once, twice, forever.  
And, finally, those oh so stunning brown eyes: deep, warm, that had this strong magnetic force on her, that made it impossible for her not to get lost in them, never wanting to tear her gaze away from them.  
Never wanting to tear her gaze away from Demi herself.

"What the hell is wrong with me" .  
The bus was almost empty, there were just two or three tourists in the back seats chatting among themselves that couldn't hear the sound of Naya's head regularly banging against the window.  
Her head was exploding, she has too much on her mind: the thought of having to tell her parents her crazy experience, the exam she had to start studying for before giving it as soon as she went back home, her friends (god she missed them so much, she decided she needed Skype with them a day or another), and most important of all, that she went through to the next round of the competition.

"What are you smiling at? I knew that there was something weird about you but man, you're starting to scare me gurl".  
Naya turned her head and saw Axel's sleepy smile.  
She didn't know how she got so lucky to have someone like him in her life.  
Before his parents (her godparents) moved definitely to the USA, Axel and her went to the same middle school in Spain, but they weren't actually friends back then: she was a quiet kid, thing that she was still now, the complete opposite of what he was. Loud, full of energy, addicted to sports and parties. Did I mention loud?  
But now, by spending time with him, she realized that he was a great person and a good friend, even if he drove her crazy most of the times. But those are the best friendships after all.

"Geez thanks bro, it always warms my heart to hear such nice words coming from you".  
Naya put her head on the blonde's shoulder, her gaze fixed on the road ahead.  
"Seriously what's going on? You should be jumping up and down right now like the maniac you are, not moping around like this. You were great on that stage"  
She wasn't so sure of that. She wasn't sure of anything anymore.  
"I don't know Axel, I – I don't even remember what happened up there. If I try to think about it my mind goes totally blank."  
She felt some movement coming from him, so she raised her head and looked at him taking his phone out of his backpack.  
"Put them on" said Axel, handing Naya his headphones  
"I'm not really in the mood for music right now Axel I- "  
"Just shut up and do as I say for once woman"  
Glaring at him Naya took the headphones, but not before saying "Don't you ever call me woman again if you don't want your precious Xbox to _accidentally _turn into a puzzle"  
Smiling at her, the boy started fiddling with his phone for some moments before passing it to Naya, who, after realizing it was a video, pressed play.

After almost losing her ability to hear ever again, she lowered the volume and paid attention to what was in front of her: at the beginning she saw Axel's shoes, then the camera moved and she saw **herself**, up on stage.  
She was ready to smack her friend's head but then she realized why he was showing that to her: he wanted her to put missing pieces back together.  
Even if she hated seeing herself and, most of all, hearing her recorded voice, she kept watching the recording because she really wanted to fill the gaps of her memory.  
"Echo by John Walker" she heard herself saying and, after that, silence.

She saw herself bowing her head a little before starting to sing, and transforming into a completely different person.  
Her voice wasn't bad, not at all, but what surprised her the most was seeing how sure her steps were, how delicately yet strongly she moved on stage.  
She didn't recognize herself: who was that person? Who was that girl who sang and moved and acted that way?  
After the last big note of the song the screen became black and the video ended.

She couldn't believe what she saw. Was that really her? Was that confident person the same shy, private girl she had always been?  
"As I've been trying to tell you multiple times, thing that earned me a lot of undeserved punches to my poor shoulder, you are **really **good Naya, you should finally accept it"  
She could only stare at him, speechless, or, almost speechless  
"Shut up you dbag" she said, affectionately smiling at him.

The rest of the trip back home was silent; Axel knew that Naya needed some time to absorb what she had just seen and the experience of that morning.  
When they arrived home the house was quiet, her godparents, Louise and Michael, still at work. Exhaustion was starting to take over her, so she told Axel that she was going to take a shower and then go to bed, because it was almost 10 p.m. after all. "I'm becoming so old", she said to herself before taking her clothes off and feeling the hot water massaging her sore muscles.  
After that she found herself in bed, one arm propped under her head, staring at the ceiling.  
She really wanted to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes one particular image invaded her brain. One clear memory of that morning refused to leave her alone. But she really didn't mind.

Demi's smile.

She was a master at fake smiling, she had done it for as long as she could remember, so she was able to recognize when a person was feigning one.  
But her smile was so breathtaking, so genuine.

Tiredness finally won her over, that wonderful memory imprinted in her mind.  
She was almost sure she fell asleep with a smile on her face as well.

**Demi's POV:  
**

"Thanks Dax, I'll see you tomorrow morning as planned, have a good night!"  
Opening the heavy door of the hotel she was staying at for the night Demi tiredly walked to the elevator, eagerly waiting for the precious moment her tired body would collide with the bed.  
Once inside of it she opened her purse to find her hotel room keys that, obviously, as soon as she found them, fell on the floor, earning various "Fuck you" from the drained girl.

She saw herself in the mirror of the elevator, and she did not like what she saw. She was pale, her eyes closing on their own will and her hair was a mess.  
It had been a very long day, and her body was yelling at her to skip the shower she very much needed and just go to sleep the second she stepped in the room.

After the familiar "ding" that signaled she reached the floor she wanted, she walked out of the elevator, got to her room's door and finally closed it behind her back.  
The room was pitch black, but she didn't need to turn on the lights, these hotels were all the same, she knew the disposition of the objects of the room by heart.  
She really wanted to just move and go straight to her room, but her legs had a different idea: she stayed for a couple minutes with her back pressed against the door.

"Another night, another empty room to come home to" she told herself.  
Don't take this the wrong way, she absolutely loved her life right now: she was healthy, her new album was doing really well, she absolutely adored her Lovatics, she had been on the cover of several magazines and hell, she was for the second year straight a judge on the X Factor, but there was something missing, and she knew perfectly well what that was.  
She was 21, she had fame, money, fans that loved her no matter what, her mind and body were in the right places, but her heart wasn't. It was there, safely in her chest, but she wanted, no, she **needed** someone to gently take it from there and take care of it, trusting her to do the same with their.

She sighed, and started walking to her room while taking off her clothes and carelessly throwing them on the floor.  
Once in her oversized shirt Demi finally laid in bed, her sore limbs getting the much need rest they had ached for after sitting for too many hours straight.

Her mind and body were slowing down, exhaustion completely taking over her, but there was still, as usual, that dull, persistent ache that wouldn't leave her alone: that painful feeling in her chest that had been with her for months if not years.  
She started drawing random patterns on the bed sheets, on the empty space next to her.  
She closed her eyes and did what she always did before falling asleep: she imagined coming **home** to someone who'd greet her with a loving smile and a kiss, that would make every single atom of her being and her soul burst into flames for the complete and utter happiness she felt.

Before definitely falling asleep a new thought, few words deeply engraved in her mind ignited **something** in heart, something that she couldn't recognize, something that she had never felt before in her life

_Hello, hello anybody out there.._


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

**A/N Hey guys, thanks for all the amazing reviews, they really mean the world to me. Today I'm in one of those moods, so I decided that I needed to write to get it off my chest. There is a lot of personal stuff in this story, things that I'm not able to say in "real" life.**

**Moreover, I wanted to ask you if you liked Axel's character and if you had any ideas for the story please share them with me!**

**Tell me songs you love, songs that make you dance, that take your pain away, that reflect the love you feel for your special someone. **

**Music is so beautiful, music is everything. I'll share it with you through this story, please share it with me as well. Nothing would make me happier. Write lyrics, post a link of the song you love.**

**Let music speak for you, because nothing in this world is more beautiful than music itself.**

**This is a long chapter, I wanted to cover both Demi and Naya's povs, hope you enjoy. G**

_Two weeks later – Los Angeles (CA)_

**Demi's POV**

Today was one of **those** days.

When getting up is just so hard. So damn hard.

When the simple things as breathing or opening your eyes bring you so much pain that you feel that you just can't take it anymore. That your heart is too fucking weak to possibly bear any more pain.

"I can't do this" she thought.

She knew it was late; the light invading her bare bedroom was a proof of it.

She also knew that she had to get up sooner or later, that she had to start doing something.

But if just the feeling of being alive felt like the heaviest burden in that moment, how was she supposed to get up and do something with her life?

She didn't open her eyes, she didn't want to accept the fact that it was another day. She wanted to sleep, not because she was tired, but because she wanted **not** to feel for a couple more hours.

She wanted to freeze time.

She was tired of everything and everyone.

Hearing her iPhone buzzing next to her Demi groaned loudly, still not ready to face the world outside of her bedroom. The blonde took the phone from the nightstand and, after seeing that it was her manager calling her, she waited for it to stop vibrating: she wasn't in the mood for people today, she just wanted 24 hours for herself and her thoughts.

Knowing that he would have kept calling her all morning she send him a short text: "My schedule is clear today. Please don't call me. I need to be alone."

After hitting "send" Demi closed her heavy eyes.

The weight on her chest was making it really hard for her to breathe, so she repeated in her head the mantra that she had been using almost every day since entering rehab two years ago: "You are in control. Don't let your demons win. Stay strong".

"Breathe Demi, breathe" the singer said to herself and to the empty room.

She opened her eyes once again, but realized that she couldn't see clearly and that her face was wet. "Fuck" she muttered after realizing she had been crying.

She was so tired of crying. It looked like all she did was crying. She was sick of it.

Finally, she tore the covers away from her body and sat on the edge on the bed.

Seeing that she had a new message she grabbed her phone again. It was a short text from Trevor, her manager, who told her to take all the time that she wanted and that if she needed anything he was there for her. Demi sent a quick thanks to him and then texted her mom, saying that she was going to turn off her phone, that she needed to disconnect from the world today, but that she loved her and that if she needed her she would be home.

Dragging herself out of the room and into the living room, Demi sat tiredly on the sofa and put her head in her hands.

She had recently bought an apartment there in LA because almost everything connected to her job was there: her manager, her recording studio and from now to December, X factor.

She had spent a lot of money for it, but she didn't care, because as soon as she had stepped in it she felt at home.

It was a beautiful building: it had that old style vibe that she loved and the modern traits she was looking for. She fell in love with the apartment from the moment she saw pictures of it, the kitchen, the big living room that faced the city, everything screamed her name. She had bought it without a second thought.

She would have paid any price to feel like that again in that specific moment.

She hated the emptiness of it.

She hated the silence.

She hated the empty picture frames.

She hated that it was way too big for her.

She hated that she had no one to share it with.

"Don't go there Demi".

Taking the blanket from the back of the sofa Demi put it on her shoulders and went to the kitchen to prepare herself coffee.

She wasn't hungry. She never was. But she knew that she had to eat, that her body needed energy to keep going at the crazy rhythm she was imposing, so she went to the cupboard to take some cereals.

Demi sat at the kitchen table to eat her breakfast, and this time she did nothing to stop her imagination from wondering freely.

She pictured herself waking up in the morning to the faint sound of music and smell of food, walking to the same room she was in right now and seeing her other half, her loved one, wearing a too big t-shirt, singing and dancing all around the kitchen while preparing breakfast for the both of them.

She saw herself staring affectionately at that person, almost feeling the love radiating from her chest at the sight of the one who captured her once broken heart and put it back together piece after piece.

Walking towards the dancing figure Demi wrapped her arms around said person, who stopped moving and just sank into the blonde's tender embrace.

By just imagining it the blonde felt that pleasant warmth she craved for all over her. But she wanted more. She **needed** more. She wanted that vision to finally become reality. She wanted to give everything she had to someone whom would give her everything in return.

"And they lived happily ever after" Demi muttered to herself while drinking her coffee and gazing out of big window of the living room.

It was a beautiful day, she really wanted to get some fresh air but just the thought of getting surrounded by paparazzi made her change her mind in a heartbeat.

Demi often thought what her life would have been if she had never auditioned for Barney and Friends, if she hadn't gotten the part of Mitchie in Camp Rock, and everything that came from that.

She could leave her apartment without the constant thought of the paparazzi, she could avoid those boring press conferences and have all the time of this world for herself without the need to constantly fight for it.

But was that the life she wanted? Probably doing a boring job she hated somewhere in Texas, with music being just a hobby? The answer was always no.

Music was her life, and she accepted and loved everything that came with it: the possibility to express all that she'd been through with her songs, the blessing of helping people, the chance to actually make a difference.

She wouldn't have traded this for the world.

Suddenly she felt the need to fill the oppressive silence, so Demi decided to pick up her favorite guitar (the one that her father gave her for her 17th birthday), which she always played when inspired to write new songs.

Still in her pj's the singer took the instrument and moved to one of the comfy chairs of the balcony: it was warm outside and she craved for some fresh air.

Demi automatically started picking the chords without a particular song in mind, she just liked the feeling of the raw material under her fingers.

Without even realizing what she was doing, she began strumming and softly singing one of her all time favorites songs, one that she always used to play in those lonely nights she unfortunately became so used to.

_I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house, that don't bother me_

_I can take a few tears now and then and just let 'em out_

_I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while even though, goin' on with you gone still upsets me_

_There are days every now and again I pretend I'm okay, but that's not what gets me_

Closing her eyes Demi let the familiar song heal the still fresh wound in her heart

_What hurts the most, was bein' so close_

_And having so much to say, and watching you walk away_

_And never knowin', what could have been_

_And not seein' that loving you, is what I was trying, to do._

This song reminded her of her father so much. They didn't' have the best father-daughter relationship, but he was still her daddy after all, and his passing away still hurt, a lot.

Before going outside Demi thought about closing the living room door that connected it to the balcony, but decided against it, because if either the phone or the doorbell rang she wouldn't have heard it. And she did the right thing, because the doorbell started buzzing insistently.

Sighing, she left the guitar on the chair and went inside to see whom it was, hoping with all her heart it was her mom and not someone from work.

Luckily, opening the door she found herself in front of a smiling Charles, the receptionist of the building.

"Oh hello Charles"

"Good morning Miss Lovato, someone left this for you earlier this morning, and since you weren't answering your phone I decided to bring it directly to you" said the man.

Demi absolutely adored him, he was always very polite to everyone and, when she moved to the building, he gave her the best home made cookies she had ever tasted as a welcome gift.

She smiled at him and said, "These aren't your wife's delicious cookies, aren't they?"

She recognized the package without giving it a second glance.

"I'm sorry to say they are not Miss, but I promise to bring them to you as soon as Rose bakes them"

"Thank you Charles, I'm going to see what this is about. Say hi to your wife for me".

Bowing his head the man turned his back to her, and the blonde closed the door.

She really wasn't in the mood for work today, but she knew that they never sent her stuff at home if it wasn't important.

Regaining her spot outside Demi opened the package. Inside there was a DVD with a note attached to it: "Audition videos. Take a look at them before the meeting of next Friday. Love, Sarah".

In the past year she realized that it was clearly impossible for her to spend a relaxing and lazy day at home without work following her everywhere.

She really wanted to get rid of the DVD and tell Simon that the dog had eaten it before she had the chance to look at it but she realized that it was a lame excuse because a) she didn't have a dog and b) she didn't want to deal with the grumpy man's usual complaints.

Accepting that she had to go through the audition tape before meeting with her fellow judges, she decided that she was going to do it her way: she put the guitar back to its rightful place in the living room, prepared her favorite banana-strawberry smoothie, picked a notepad and a pen, found the comfiest spot on the sofa and then played the DVD.

In the meeting she was going to attend with Paulina, Kelly, Simon they had to restrict the number of those who passed the Auditions to a smaller number, so she had to watch the performances all over again and prepare some notes on each one of the contestants and their auditions.

It was a really long work but she didn't mind: she loved her X Factor job and there had been some really great contestants she couldn't wait to work with.

She didn't know how much time had passed since hitting the play button on her remote, but she had already filled two pages with notes while writing on another piece of paper the names of the contestants whom she definitely wanted to stay in the competition.

The boy's category, according to her notes and what she had seen until now, was the strongest one of the competition in her opinion, but she still had a lot of auditions to watch and review.

There was a faint memory of one particular girl, she didn't remember her clearly, few weeks had passed since the first auditions, but what she did remember was that she had completely blown her away.

Her stage presence, her immediate connection with the crowd, her voice, her eyes, her beautiful smile… That was **something** about her that she still couldn't grasp: she saw something in her, something special indeed.

She couldn't wait to see her performance again.

Contestant after contestant, page after page the blonde was getting pretty tired, but the memory of that girl's audition kept her going.

She saw herself at the judge's table, talking to Paulina when the camera focused on the next contestant.

"There she is".

Demi put the notepad aside: she wanted to totally focus on the girl in front of her, whose name she couldn't remember.

"_I asked you what's your name darling"_ she heard Simon say while the girl was fidgeting on stage, doing anything but looking at the British judge.

"She's so cute" she unconsciously thought.

Demi kept starting at the young girl on stage missing Simon asking her another question: she just couldn't tear her gaze away from her.

"_Uhm so I'm Naya Marie Rivera…"_

"Naya" Demi said out loud.

God, she could have kept repeating that name over and over without getting tired of it, it sounded so beautiful.

Demi listened to the rest of the questions that the other judges addressed the young girl, noticing that she was sitting there at the judge's table staring at the girl completely awestruck.

"I'm sure I was attracted to her the second she stepped on that stage… Wait, _what_? Attracted? No, I mean, professionally interested, as a judge"

She had seen this girl only one time and she was already messing with her head.

Finally it was time for her to sing, and Demi just couldn't wait for it, because she wanted to feel the emotions she felt the first time all over again.

Demi turned up the volume, wanting the room to be completely filled by the voice that not only captured the entire crowd present that day, but also all the judges if she remembered correctly.

She could see that Naya (when did she start referring to the girl with her name?) was nervous, but as soon as the music started playing it was as if she transformed in a completely different person right there in front of her eyes.

That happened to her as well when she performed, music had that magical effect.

The camera was now entirely focused on the contestant's face, and Demi paid attention to every single detail of it: her long black hair, the shape of her cute nose, the way her brows furrowed when she hit one of the song's high notes, her plump lips and her eyes, so deep and mesmerizing.

When she finished singing Demi realized that she had been holding her breath probably for the entire duration of it, but she didn't remember doing that: the black haired girl had the room in her power, every single person in that room had been totally blown away by her, and she could remember why now.

"She's something else", she thought while scribbling Naya's name on the piece of paper and then circling it multiple times with a red pen.

Near the girl's name Demi wrote "Who are you?": she knew since the second she saw her that there was so much more underneath what she let the rest of the world seeing, and she couldn't wait to find out.

This girl was going to drive her crazy, she was 100% sure of that.

Naya's talent was almost unbelievable, and the most amazing thing was that she probably just scratched the surface: Demi was certain that there was still so much potential hidden under that gorgeous figure.

After seeing this performance the singer totally changed her mind: the girls group had definitely found its secret weapon, and now Demi hoped with all her heart to become this group's mentor.

**p.s I didn't like the Four Chair Challenge thing that they pulled this year, so in this fic I'm going to use Bootcamp and the Judge's Homes instead because a) I like it more b) I want to see how Naya and Demi interact with each other outside the X Factor stage, hope you like the slight change!**

**I'm sure most of you know the song BUT for those of you who don't, here's watch?v=7qH4qyi1-Ys the link for Rascal Flatts' What Hurts The Most, one of my all time favorite songs.**


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

**A/N Hey folks! So I wanted to thank you for your amazing reviews and then clarify a few things:**

**In this fic Naya is 20 and Demi is 21: I know Naya is 26 in real life but as I mentioned before, there are some personal traits in this story and one of them is Naya's age (I'm 20), plus I like the idea of Demi being older than the other girl**

**I'm not going to jump in the Daya relationship straight away glee style because it's not how things work in real life and because I want to see the characters grow separately and then together**

**Keep telling me songs you love and if you have any suggestions I'm open to them!**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for reading! G**

_Two weeks later – Boulder (CO)_

**Naya's POV**

"I'm going to kill you Axel, I swear to God!"

"You tried babe, several times. 14 times in the last twenty minutes actually. Watch out for the grenade"

"What gren- I FUCKING HATE THIS GAME!" said Naya, throwing the Xbox controller on the floor for the tenth time that day.

Smirking, Axel turned towards her, "Oh my god you really suck at Call of Duty gurl, we've played for 4 hours straight today and I died like 5 times, two of which totally don't count 'cause I killed myself"

"Well _excuse me_ if I prefer spending my time with actual human beings and not playing with this damn box that apparently hates me!"

"Hey! I do spend time with human beings!"

Glaring at him, Naya threw the controller at her friend and said "Porn doesn't count you asshole".

While Axel sat there with his arms crossed and a fake hurt expression on his face the phone started ringing.

"Hello?" said the girl

"Yo Nay Nay Max speaking"

"Hey man how you doin'?

"I'm fine dude, listen: I'm throwing a Max style party at my place tonight, you and Axel in right? We need to beat Tom and Justin in other round of extreme beer pong and I need my two best players there with me"

Knowing that her friend was always up for alcohol and bad music Naya told him they were going to be there and that they'd bring the usual stuff: lots of beer and junk food.

Back in Spain the girl rarely went to parties, she never felt comfortable enough to dress as her slutty "friends" and get wasted as if there was no tomorrow: she was the girl who spent her Saturday nights at home, either on the computer or reading. But there in Boulder it was different: yes, the parties still very much consisted in alcohol and other not-so-legal things, but she didn't feel forced to drink and could just put on a pair of jeans and a shirt and that would be ok, because no one really cared about how you dressed, and that was what Naya loved the most about that place.

She had always been self-conscious about her body, much like every single person on this planet. Growing up she had always been the fat kid who had no friends and that spent all her time reading one book after the other.

Naya had always put her I-don't-care-about-what-you-think face on, and that worked, on the outside: she desperately wanted to be like all the other girly girls, but that was proven very much difficult not only because of her weight but also because she loved sports and playing soccer or basketball with the other kids, thing that made her look even "weirder" to others.

Growing up had been hard and mostly lonely for her: her high school experience pretty much consisted in studying while her classmates experienced the first boyfriends and hangovers. She was proud, she took that from her mother, so she never admitted to anyone how she was feeling, mostly because she had no one to talk to (obviously her parents were not an option).

The few times her classmates invited her to hang out with them she always turned them down saying she was tired or that she already had plans with other people. Their concept of having fun was getting wasted and going to clubs, to which the girl never went to because she didn't think that going there dressed with jeans and a shirt was "appropriate" and also because she felt that everyone would be looking at her, the weird girl in the corner.

That was the other problem: she though that **everyone** looked at her and judged her all the time. Every time she entered a clothes shop she felt everyone's eyes on her, so she just turned the volume of her iPod up, kept her head low and minded her own business, desperately trying to shut the voices in her head that screamed "You're fat, you're never going to fit in these clothes".

Naya hated high school with all her heart for the entire five years of it, and she kept telling herself that once in college everything was going to change: that she was going to have a bunch of friends that liked her for what she was and that maybe she was finally going to be with someone.

While people of her age asked for phones, clothes and expensive cars Naya mostly craved to **be** with someone, to experience all the things that she had read and seen on TV. Maybe she was delusional and was going to die alone with her 47 beloved cats, but at every birthday cake and shooting star she always wished the same thing, year after year: for someone to love her.

After the end of high school Naya decided to give her life the direction she wanted: she started working out and eating less junk food, things that after months of tears and changes of mind finally gave their result.

She was comfortable with her body now, she was finally able to look at herself in the mirror without lowering her gaze, but she kept wearing shirts and jeans, flowery dresses and make up still not being her thing.

After telling Axel about the party the two of them went to the grocery store to buy the things they needed.

"So, I assume Sarah's going to be there tonight…"

Naya brusquely stopped making Axel's cart collide against her.

"Shit" she muttered.

Sarah was one of Axel's friends from college whom she met at Max's first party: it was her first week there in Boulder, so Naya decided to let loose and drink, and I mean **drink**. The next morning she woke up with the worst headache in the history of headaches, but strangely she remembered the previous night lucidly: she remembered talking to this girl, Sarah as a matter of fact, and then spending a full half an hour making out with her.

There's the thing though: Naya, in all her 20 years of life, had never been in a relationship, or on a date. She had never been kissed actually.

She had always been taught that she was going to marry someone and have kids with them, nothing strange about that.

The problem was that she just couldn't see herself being with a guy: she couldn't even remember the first time she appreciated women forms, or preferred sweet and delicate traits to masculine and definite ones.

She never saw being attracted to girls as a problem or a sin or bullshit like that, because no one needed to tell her that love was love, and that you don't fall in love with a gender, but with a person, because she knew that. Sometimes she doubted herself, because we're always bombarded with what society thinks it's "normal" and "right", and also because she had never been with neither a girl or a guy, so how could she possibly know?

So that night at the party she saw Sarah and found her pretty, so she decided that she was going to talk to her and even flirt with her if she found her interesting, because no one there knew her and it was not like she was going to stay in Boulder forever. In the end they ended up making out, but the next day the old Naya, the self-conscious and sober one, came out to play, so she never got the guts to text Sarah or see her again.

"Are you ok? Did I hurt you?" said a concerned Axel

"Sarah's going to be there", the girl said quietly to herself, while her friend was looking at her puzzlingly.

"OH MY GOD SARAH'S GOING TO BE THERE!"

"Yes, that's precisely what I said like two seconds ag-"  
"No no no you don't understand! I – I kissed her, well, **she** kissed me an- and I

n-never called her or texted her and oh my god I'm such a guy!"

"Ouch that was a low one"

Naya kept walking up and down the store's isle, with the costumers looking at the crazy girl who kept talking to herself in the middle of the cereals department.

Seeing that his friend was freaking out Axel put his hands on Naya's shoulder, "Hey hey calm down, I'm gonna text her and ask her if she's going to come tonight, and if she does you're going to talk to her ok?"

Lifting her head from the ground the girl looked at her friend, "T- talk? No, no I have a better plan: what about uhm, Mexico, YES, do you want to go to Mexico? W- we could open a – an aquarium, yes, brilliant! Go get your passport!"

After hearing her friend's genius idea the boy started laughing: he knew that she was one of the good ones, never hurt a fly in her life, so the idea of having to face a possibly hurt Sarah was driving her crazy.

"Ok calm down Crocodile Dundee, breathe, yes, good girl, just like that. Now, we're going to go home and you can tell me what happened with the girl and we'll think about a plan that doesn't include finding Nemo ok?"

Naya nodded, thankful to have Axel there to calm her down: she really didn't want to be on tomorrow's paper as "The Girl Who Started Talking To A Watermelon".

So when they got home Naya told her friend the story of what happened that night, which consisted mostly in her getting heavily drunk (which earned her a high five from Axel, who wasn't used to a wild Naya) and kissing the previously mentioned girl.

That's the thing: Axel was an amazing friend for many reasons, thing that Naya was never going to tell him, his ego was already gigantic, but the one thing that the girl loved the most about him was that he didn't judge you, ever.

When she came to Boulder she told herself that she was going to spend the summer being herself, and that included her **gay **self. She wasn't out, no one knew about her liking girls, but she had wanted to share that with someone since she realized that she was attracted to females, so one day, after many speeches in front of the bathroom mirror, she decided to finally tell Axel.

Was she afraid that he was going to hate her? Of course. Was she afraid that maybe his parents weren't gay friendly and were going to throw her out? Yes.

She was their goddaughter, but when they were in Spain they never really spend much time together, so she didn't know how they'd react.

Keeping her head held high she told Axel: the boy stayed silent for a couple minutes, looking at the girl in front of him with a confused expression.

Naya was getting more and more worried when suddenly he got out of his trance and said "Aw man, that's not fair! Always the pretty ones!"

After some moments Naya launched herself at him, and after a long time she looked at him and said "S-so you're not mad or disgusted?"

"No man, not at all! That means we're going to go hunting together!".

Yes, he actually said **hunting**.

After that day the two of them become closer than ever, Naya finally finding that one true friend she always dreamed of.

The night of the party finally came and after saying goodbye to Axel's parents (to whom she promised not to drink in order to drive Axel and herself back home safely), they drove to Max's place.

When they arrived the place was already packed: the music was blasting and there were people everywhere.

After seeing Max next to the biggest TV Naya had ever seen in her life the two of them went to say hi to him. Even though the music was so loud that you couldn't almost hear your thoughts Naya asked Axel if Sarah was there.

"What?" was the boy's answer

"Is Sarah here?"  
"I can't hear you!"

"IS SARAH HERE!?" Naya shouted, but fate wants that she did that right when the music dropped, so every person in the room she was in was staring at her, Sarah included.

Laughing his ass off, Axel nodded, earning a punch on his famous shoulder from his friend who, after that, went towards the red head's direction.

Wanting to talk to the other girl Naya pointed to the door, implicitly asking her if she wanted to go out, to which Sarah nodded.

Once outside the girls sat on the porch, an awkward silence surrounding them.

Naya really didn't know what to say, she never found herself in a situation like this. Gathering all the courage she could muster, she turned towards the older girl, who had just lit a cigarette.

"Want one?"

"No thanks I'm trying to quit, it's bad for my voice…"

Suddenly interested the other girl said "Oh my god yes! Axel told me you went to that X Factor audition in Denver, that's so cool! So when's your next performance?".

That particular question had been bugging Naya for almost two weeks straight.

She didn't know how the competition's system worked: she got the four yesses she needed but then what? She had received neither an email nor a call, and she was starting to believe that they had realized that she wasn't **that** good after all and decided not to put her through the next round.

"Uhm, I –I don't know actually. So listen, I wanted to apologize for the way that I behaved"

The confused 23 years old girl looked at her and said, "What do you mean?"

"Well you know we –we kissed and I-I, I mean, I never texted you or c-called…"

Suddenly the other girl started laughing and, after regaining her breath she said "Oh my god you're the cutest! You don't have to worry about it, I like you, you like me, we were just having a little bit of fun…"

Getting closer and closer to Naya's face she added, "… And I wouldn't be opposed to continue what we started".

Naya wasn't breathing: the other girl's face was so close to hers, she could feel her breath on her lips, her eyes almost black with lust. She wasn't used to having a girl, a truly beautiful one, so close to her, **wanting** to be that close to her.

She should have taken the occasion and kissed her, because even if she didn't want anything serious with Sarah, she would have been good practice.

"Practice? Oh my god I sound like Axel" she thought disgustingly

"Sarah wait" she said after putting some distance between the two of them.

"You're an awesome girl and I like you but I- I uhm…"  
"There's another girl, am I right?"

As soon as she heard Sarah's words the first image that came to Naya's mind was that of the girl she hadn't stop thinking of for two weeks straight: the girl in front of her was beautiful, but not as stunning as **she **was, her eyes were pretty, but not mesmerizing as hers, her lips were soft, but not the way she thought the blonde's were.

"Yes" she quietly answered, her gaze fixed on her worn shoes.

"Hey" the red head said lifting Naya's chin so that she would look at her, "the girl's very lucky, you're beautiful and funny and if it doesn't work with her, you know where to find me. I'll see you around". Winking at her Sarah got up, leaving the Hispanic girl alone and very much shocked on the porch.

"What the hell is wrong with me? There's this beautiful girl who actually **wants** to know me and kiss me and I let her go away? For what? A girl who's not even gay and with which **nothing** is ever going to happen?".

With an exasperated huff Naya got up and went inside, hoping that a little beer pong and some music would distract her and erase the image of Demi from her twisted mind.

That unfortunately didn't happen: after five rounds of beer pong, some dancing and a poker game Naya literally dragged her (drunk) friend out of Max's house.

After the problematic task of fastening Axel's belt, she drove the two of them home.

The twelve steps that separated her from upstairs were the most difficult of her life because Axel resolutely decided that he wanted to do them backwards, on his butt.

Finally lying in bed the girl's mind started wandering as it did every time she was alone: she initially thought of Sarah, but as soon as she closed her eyes another image insistently popped up in her mind.

She saw herself at that very same porch she was just a couple hours ago, with her arm around someone's shoulders. It was dark, and it was raining pretty heavily, but it was a peaceful scene.

The next thing she saw was the person that was with her: blonde hair, delicate features, soft smile and the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.

She tried **so hard** to forget about Demi, she really did, but how could she erase her from her memory when just the image of holding her made her heart flutter like never before in her life?

"I'm so screwed", she thought, but she still fell asleep with a smile on her face and that image in her heart.


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6_

**A/N Hey everyone! I know I haven't updated for a long time, but college exams that I'm not studying for and bad moods prevented me from sitting down and writing for the last two weeks.  
****If written in the right way this story could go on for almost 30-40 chapters and I hope I'll still be focused and inspired to write all of them.  
****Thanks for the feedback, you're all so sweet and always make my day :)  
****If you have any suggestions and songs you think would go well with this story please share them with me.  
****This is going to be a short chapter, you'll understand why!  
****Sorry for the grammar mistakes, I wrote it and then read it only two times before posting!  
****Hope you enjoy.  
****Love,  
****G.**

It was a beautiful day.  
The sun was up in the clear sky, it was hot but not stifling, birds were chirping and dears happily munching the garden's grass.  
And Naya?  
Naya was stuck inside, fake studying for the exam she was going to give as soon as her vacation was over.  
It wasn't that she didn't like studying, in college she finally understood that school is not about grades but culture itself, but the fact that she had to stay inside instead of going out with Axel doing something fun was bugging her, a lot.  
And it wasn't helping that her friend, while she was desperately trying to focus on Shakespeare's King Lear, was playing some stupid game on the computer right next to her without a care in the world. He had lost a year when he came to the United States thanks to the difference between the European and the American school system and so, while she ended her first year of college he had just graduated from high school, which meant only three things for him: Xbox, parties and booze.

The blonde was furiously tapping on his keyboard, either killing a troll or engaging in a nerve-wracking game of onlygodknowswhat: what Naya did know though, was that he was driving her absolutely insane.  
"Axel"  
"AXEL" she said again while looking at the guy sitting in front of her.  
Finally losing her patience Naya slammed the lid of his computer down, effectively gaining her friend's attention.  
"Hey what the-? I had almost passed the damn level Naya!"  
"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself Axel, but if you haven't noticed I'm actually trying to get something done here, **some** of us have to study" she replied annoyingly  
"Jealous much babe?"  
"Very, and don't call me babe" she replied throwing her pen at him.

Knowing that she wasn't going to go any further with her studies she asked Axel if he wanted to go out to smoke, to which he agreed without a second of hesitation.  
One of perks of having the house all for themselves almost every day of the week? No need to worry about parents catching you with a Malboro between your lips and maybe a beer between your hands.  
Ok yes, she knew that it was bad for her health, but on the contrary of what many people thought she didn't smoke because she wanted to look "cool" or bullshit like that, she genuinely enjoyed smoking: one of her favorite things to do back home in Spain was going on the balcony outside of her room, putting the headphones on, smoking a cigarette and watching the night sky with music completely taking her over. Music, the stars, the peacefulness and the smoke made those moments the ones she looked for all day long.

Sitting in their usual spot, on the big rock that looked towards the mountains, the two of them talked about the road trip they had started planning a while ago.  
Sure, Boulder was paradise compared to where she came from, but after two weeks or so they ran out of things to do, so one day they decided that they were going to take the Jeep and drive to Utah or Arizona, just to change environment for a couple days.

While they were discussing the details of their trip the phone rang, so Naya passed the cigarette she was smoking to Axel and ran back inside the house to answer. She hated talking on the phone in the first place, so you can imagine how much she dreaded answering someone else's landline.  
The girl knew when her parents were calling her, she recognized the number, but this one? She didn't remember ever receiving a call from this particular phone number, and she was the one who usually answered the phone since her godparents were never home because of work and Axel was the laziest person she had ever met in her whole life.

"Hello?" she said finally mustering the courage to speak  
"Hi! This is Sarah from the X factor am I speaking to Naya?"  
As soon as she heard those two words Naya completely stopped breathing: she couldn't believe she was finally hearing back from them, almost three weeks had passed since her audition and during that period she had almost forgot about the competition altogether. **Almost**.  
"Y-yeah i-it's me" she replied, mentally slapping herself for her usual stuttering  
"Hi, so I wanted to talk to you about the next round of the competition, do you have ten minutes for me?"  
"Sure I'm all ears", grabbing a pen Naya sat on the sofa and started scribbling all the information the woman on the phone was giving her.

Fifteen minutes and almost two pages of notes later Naya ended the call.  
After staring at the wall in front of her for a good twenty seconds she rapidly got up and went outside.  
"AXELOHMYGODYOUCAN'TBELIEVEWHOCALLEDIT'SCRAZY"  
Looking at his friend, who was currently jumping up and down in front of him rambling some Naya style nonsense, he got up and put his hands on the excited girl's shoulders.  
"Wha- Naya for fuck's sake stop blabbering like a maniac and tell me what's going on. Jeez you're getting worse and worse every day…"  
"THEY CALLED AXEL!" said the excited girl  
"They who?"  
"THE X FACTOR! THEY WANT ME TO GO BACK FOR THE NEXT ROUND OF THE COMPETITION IN FOUR DAYS IN MIAMI AND OH MY GOD I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO GO TO FLORIDA AND OH GO TO THE BEACH AND MAYBE A CONCERT AND THE Z-"

Absorbing the essential information Axel blankly stared at Naya, whose enthusiasm was being replaced by shallow breaths for all that jumping up and down.  
"They called you back?" the blonde almost whispered, with a dumbfounded expression on his face.  
With glimmering eyes and a genuine, happy smile Naya replied almost as quietly as her friend did, "Yes".  
Finally grasping what her friend had just told her Axel closed the distance between them, hugging her with all the strength he had in his body.  
He knew that she didn't want her badass façade to be questioned, but what he also knew was that she probably had never been as happy as she was in that precise moment.

The two following hours were spent talking about what Sarah had told her and planning the trip to Florida, where she told him the next step of the competition was going to be.  
Naya, having received the four yesses she needed to go forward, had now to face the first part of the so called Boot Camp with the other contestants that got through Auditions. Sarah told her that she had to prepare a song of her choice, and that then they were going to tell her specifically what to do when she got there.  
She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she didn't dream her audition, and that she now had to fly to Miami for the next round of the competition.

Fly. To Miami. Florida. Almost two thousands miles.  
She was freaking out in a positive way until a thought came up to her mind.  
She had to go to Miami, and she had four days to get there, so going by car wasn't a possibility. She had to go by plane. And that meant only one thing: money.  
The ticket was going to be crazy expensive since they had warned her with such short notice.

"Fuck" Naya murmured, reality finally hitting her  
"What?"  
"I have to go to Miami. In Florida"  
"I thought we talked about tha-"  
Panic was starting to kick in. " No no no you don't understand. We can't go there by car, it would take too long."  
"Well? So what? We'll take the plane as humans do" said Axel, still not understanding where Naya was going with this.  
"Axel, do you know how much does it cost to buy a plane ticket a couple days before leaving? My mum bought it months before me coming here"  
"Well I can lend you some, I know were you live so.." he said, trying to be funny and lifting Naya's mood up.  
"I haven't told them" the girl said to herself, but her friend actually heard her and looked at her with a confused expression.  
"I haven't told my parents about the X factor Axel. They don't know that we went to the Denver auditions. I haven't told them because I thought of it as a joke, I never thought I was actually going to pass to the next stage. I can't go to Miami, I can't ask them for more money, and I'm sure as hell not going to ask you".  
Axel tried to make her change her mind in every possible way, but she wasn't giving in.

Naya told him that she was going to spend some time alone in her room, she needed to think this thing over by herself.  
So that was it. She overcame her fears for nothing. That one time in her life that she was actually proud of something she had done reality comes back crashing down on her.

Closing the bedroom door behind her Naya tiredly lied down on her bed.  
Saying she was bummed was an understatement. The brunette's happiness had lasted only twenty minutes before the prospect of asking her parents for other 300 dollars or more (yes, she checked online for the price of the flight) made her definitely give up. She was going to call Sarah and tell her that she wasn't going to go to Florida, that she wasn't going to participate to Boot Camp.

Angry tears were starting to form in the girl's eyes while anger and sadness completely overwhelmed her. She had been so close.  
This is what happens when she lets herself dream: she gets disappointed.  
All the damn time.

She doesn't want to think about it anymore. She doesn't want to think about the opportunity she's missing because of fucking money.  
Taking her iPod from the nightstand next to her bed she angrily puts her headphones in, hoping in the distracting and soothing powers of music to work.

**A/N Oh my god cliffhanger! Is she going? Is she really giving up? What about Demi? What is she up to? How is she going to take the news that Naya isn't going to attend Boot Camp?  
****Stay tuned and you'll know ;)  
****Oh and p.s I only had 5 reviews for the last chapter so if you don't review/favorite/follow I'm not going to continue this story so I expect at least 10 comments on this one…**

**KIIIIDDING ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7_

**A/N YOU GUYS AR NG ! No really, I love every and each one of you, you're seriously too sweet to be real :)  
****So, I don't want to give anything away, but this should be the last chapter before the "real" stuff begins, so please be patient with me hahaha  
****I have to give two exams in one month and even though I'm really not in the right mental state to study I have to, so I don't know when you'll have the next chapter (as usual I might say lol)  
****50 reviews and more than 7.500 views, you're seriously incredible!  
****So here you go, hopefully this doesn't suck too much!  
****Sorry for the usual grammar mistakes, remember that English it's not my first language!  
****Lots of love,  
****G.**

_6 hours later _

Her eyes were starting to hurt.  
Naya could easily say that the day had been really, **really** shitty: realizing that she couldn't go to Miami for the next step of the competition because of the crazy expensive plane tickets totally killed her mood.

After telling Axel that she was adamant on the fact of not going, because there was no way that she was going to ask her parents for more money, she locked herself in her room. She just wanted to be left alone, and her friend knew that.  
Naya thought about calling Sarah back right away, but the wound still hurt too much, so she decided to try to numb herself with too many episodes in a row of Grey's Anatomy.  
After watching for the billion time the scene of Alex carrying Izzie after she discovers Denny's death, Naya took her iPod from the nightstand to see what time it was: _3.37 a.m.  
_She wasn't tired, yes, her eyes and head were killing her for staring for too long at the computer screen, but she knew that sleeping wasn't an option.  
Since the regular disasters of the show she was watching were doing nothing to her anymore she decided to go for a smoke: Axel and his parents were probably already asleep so no one was going to catch her in the act or ask her if she was ok.

She had skipped dinner that night, she hadn't been in the mood for food or talking, she just wanted the idea of the X Factor to get out of her system so she could go back to what she was before and maybe even study a little bit, and that was impossible if her mind was constantly focused on what she was throwing away.

Taking her iPod, her headphones and her cigarettes the brunette walked down the stairs as quietly as possible and then sat on the garden bench outside.  
One of her usual rituals before smoking a cigarette was to find the perfect song to go with it, almost as if she wanted the song to reflect and amplify what she was feeling and to make justice to that particular moment.  
Going through her music library she ran across some songs she absolutely loved, but they just weren't the **right **one, so she kept looking until…  
"Perfect" she said quietly to herself.  
Before pressing play Naya lit the cigarette, and then let the music do its job.  
Hearing the familiar melody the girl closed her eyes, the song filling the emptiness she felt in her chest.

_I don't know where I'm at__  
__I'm standing at the back__  
__And I'm tired of waiting__  
__Waiting here in line, hoping that I'll find what I've been chasing.__  
__I shot for the sky__  
__I'm stuck on the ground__  
__So why do I try, I know I'm gonna fall down__  
__I thought I could fly, so why did I drown?__  
__Never know why it's coming down, down, down._

Sadness was starting to get overwhelming, so she tried to push the feeling away by softly singing the next verses of the song

_I'm not ready to let go__  
__Cause then I'd never know__  
__What I could be missing__  
__But I'm missing way too much__  
__So when do I give up, what I've been wishing for._

Tears were now falling freely, but she didn't bother wiping them away

_I shot for the sky__  
__I'm stuck on the ground__  
__So why do I try, I know I'm gonna fall down__  
__I thought I could fly, so why did I drown?__  
__I'll never know why it's coming down, down, down.__  
__Oh I am going down, down, down__  
__Can't find another way around__  
__And I don't want to hear the sound, of losing what I never found._

Staying outside helped her clear her mind a little bit, so she decided to smoke another cigarette, listen to a couple more songs and then go to bed and try to get some very much needed sleep.  
Hiding the cigarette butts under a rock she found next to where she was sitting (her godparents were both doctors and totally opposed to smoking, so both her and Axel always had to be really careful not to leave proofs behind them) Naya went inside and walked silently to her room.

She was starting to feel tired, but she decided to listen to some more music.  
The room was pitch black and, because she wanted to leave it that way, she didn't look for a song she liked, she just put her library on shuffle and tried to relax, thinking of nothing in particular.  
But it was almost impossible. She kept thinking about the phone call of a couple hours ago. And no, she wasn't referring to the first one.

_Flashback - Earlier that day_

This kind of things always happened to her.  
She finds something or someone she deeply cares about only to have it taken away from her shortly after. It happened with whom she thought was her best friend back in Spain and with the scholarship she didn't get because her grades were too low. However, what many people didn't know was that her grades back in high school were low because she was sad and lonely all the damn time, and these feelings prevented Naya from focusing on anything else than the bareness she constantly felt.

So the fact that another thing was being taken away from her shouldn't have hurt that much since she was so used to it, right?  
**Wrong**.  
Giving up on this incredible opportunity was eating her alive: Naya wasn't really the tears type, she didn't like showing her emotions, but just thinking about how amazing she felt on that stage in Denver, how appreciated and herself she felt in front of that many people brought tears to her eyes.

Knowing that nothing was going to change the situation the girl finally decided to call Sarah and tell her she wasn't going, that they could give her spot to someone else.  
At least someone else was going to have amazing news today.  
She had tried to push this moment as far in time as possible, but now that she realized that there was nothing she could do she picked up the phone and dialed the number the woman had given her that same morning.

Tears were still streaming down her face and Naya didn't really trust her voice not to break in the middle of the phone call but she didn't care, she just wanted to get this over with.  
"Hello?"  
"Hi Sarah t-this is Naya, Rivera, uhm, you called me this morning" her voice was shaky, but she really didn't give a damn  
"Oh yeah hi how is it going?"  
"Not so good actually. I called you because…" she just couldn't believe that she was about to throw away this amazing opportunity "Because I can't come to Miami, so… Yeah, y-you can give my spot to someone else"  
The line went silent for a couple seconds, "Are you sure? What happened?"  
"I-I uhm… I don't have the m-money to come to Miami, s-so... But thanks f-for the opportunity. Yeah, me too. Have a nice day."  
Naya ended the call and then threw the phone on the ground.

_End of flashback_

"Stop thinking about it".  
Her mind was racing, so Naya took a couple deep breathes to calm herself and prevent those damn tears to fall.  
She decided to focus on the music. After listening to the last half of _One _another song came up, but it wasn't just **a **song.  
"You've gotta be kidding me right now"

A **very** familiar song came up, and in that moment Naya really thought that she must have done something to piss the universe off, because this was absolutely ridiculous.

_The day I first met you__  
__You told me you never fall in love_

Naya let Demi's voice lull her to sleep, those 3 minutes and 25 seconds being the only peaceful and almost happy moments of the entire day.

**Demi's POV**

_10:34 a.m_

4 days. 4 days until the beginning of the show.  
Boot Camp. 120 contestants to watch. 60 acts to send home.

Demi was thrilled. This was her first year on the X Factor and she absolutely loved it: she had a great feeling and relationship with the other judges (even that grumpy old softy of Simon) and loved that she could help people with their musical journey.  
Music had always been and still was such a big and important part of her life that when Simon called her and offered the judge's job she accepted without hesitation.

She was going to use the four days before the departure to do a couple interviews and go out with her friends because after Boot Camp started, her mind was going to be completely focused on the program and the contestants.  
The only thing she and the other judges had to attend was a reunion that same day: they were going to watch the contestant's auditions once again and talk briefly about Boot Camp.

The pop star was getting ready for the meeting, or at least she was trying to: what she was actually doing was singing and dancing in her underwear and oversized shirt to the last Pitbull song while thinking about what to wear that day.  
After a couple more songs and a call from Dax telling her he was waiting for her outside the building Demi closed the door of her apartment, briefly hugged Charles and then entered her car.

"How much do you love me Dax?" the blonde asked her driver  
"Is this a trick question?" the middle aged man answered amused  
Lightly punching his shoulder she said, "Can we stop at Starbucks? I'd really lov-" but before she could even finish the sentence Dax, without tearing his eyes away from the road passed her a cappuccino and a blueberry muffin. Her absolute favorite.  
"I could totally kiss you right now" she told him, excitement and gratitude clear in her voice.

She wasn't going to lie and say she had solved all her eating problems, because she hadn't, but what was different than before was that she saw her body almost as a temple, something to take great care of instead of hate and damage.  
But one of the things she was **never** going to give up on was her blueberry muffin.

Demi spent the ride listening to some music, chatting with Dax and tweeting a picture of herself eating her beloved muffin: her fans knew all about her eating problems, she never hid anything from them, so once in a while she tweeted pictures of herself eating, in order to let them know that she was still eating and doing it in the right way. They were family to her, and as she did with her family, she kept them updated on her everyday life, on the good and the bad things.  
Her fans had been there for her when she went through the dark time of rehab and, when she got out, she promised herself that she was going to be there for each and everyone of them.

Having arrived to where the meeting was going to be held Demi told her bodyguard the plans for the day and at what hour to come and pick her up: fortunately the building had an inside garage that prevented her from being surrounded by paparazzi.  
As soon as she stepped in the room both Paulina and Kelly got up from their seats to hug her, while Simon gave her his usual wink.  
"Okay guys, now that the princess is here we can actually start this reunion" the British man said with an amused tone.  
Knowing that there was no malice in what he said Demi just stuck out her tongue at him and sat between the other two female judges.  
"Ok so what we are going to do today is watch bits of all the contestant's auditions and then talk about how Boot Camp is going to be"  
"Yes boss" Kelly said, earning the laughter from both Demi and Paulina.

The young girl loved this: she adored the fact that she was going to work with amazingly talented people she could both joke with and learn so much from.  
"This is going to be so much fun" she thought.

The four judges went through the acts' performances, saying what they respectively thought of them, if they had the X Factor potential they were looking for and if they believed they had a spot in the market.  
They had almost gone through half of the auditions when Sarah, one the show's producers, came in.  
"I'm sorry to interrupt you guys"  
"We were actually going to take a break soon, I think Simon needs his beauty nap" Demi jokingly said  
"Ha ha ha very funny. What's going on Sarah?" Simon said  
Closing the door, the woman stopped in front of the table the four judges were sitting at and said, "Well, you know that I called the contestants yesterday, and they all confirmed that they were going to attend Boot Camp"  
"Yes, so…?" a confused Kelly said  
"Well one of them actually called me back and told me she wasn't going to come to Miami after all. I was going to inform you about that yesterday but I didn't want to disturb you on your free day so…".

The four judges looked at each other with perplexed expressions: Simon, who had been in this business for the longest time, couldn't believe that someone was going to quit this opportunity, so he asked her producer to tell him the name of the contestant who dropped out.  
Going through the papers in her hands the woman finally said, "Rivera, Naya Marie Rivera".

The name didn't ring a bell for any of the judges, except for one: Demi.  
"No this can't be right" she said, "She – she was amazing! One of the best of the entire Denver auditions day!".  
Demi couldn't believe the brunette was going to give up.  
She wasn't going to let that happen.

"Call her again"  
"What?" her fellow judges and the producer said in unison  
Getting up from her seat Demi started walking up and down the room nervously, "I want to know why she isn't coming"  
The room was silent, Kelly, Paulina and Simon kept looking at each other and then at a very agitated Demi.  
Sensing three pairs of eyes on her the pop star stopped walking and turned towards them, "Guys, her audition was incredible, I-I swear she totally blow my mind! That girl has something special", the last part coming out so quietly that the other people in the room almost didn't hear her.

There was one thing that Simon had never told anyone, and the especially not to Demi: he had called her and asked her to be on this year's panel not only because she was crazy talented, but most of all because he trusted her instincts.  
The British judge told Sarah that they were going to discuss about the matter, so the producer exited the room.

"I don't actually remember her, but if Demi says that the girl is good I want to see her audition again. What do you think?" he said to the other judges.  
Kelly and Paulina both nodded, while Demi was silently staring in front of her.  
"Demi, _mi amor_?"  
"Yes, uhm, let's watch it again" said the blonde distractedly, too focused on remembering the instant spark she felt as soon as Naya laid her eyes on her.

Suddenly the room was filled with the 20 years old's voice, and now they all remembered and understood why Demi was so resolute on convincing her to change her mind.  
This girl wasn't good. She was amazing.

Demi just couldn't get enough of her and her voice.  
She had watched her audition tape over and over, observed the brunette confidently owning the song and the stage, but there still was a part of her that the singer couldn't decipher, and that was one of the many reasons why she wanted Naya to go to Boot Camp.

The room was silent, Demi saw on the judge's faces something that she hadn't seen after the other contestant's auditions: amazement, excitement.  
"Told you she was pretty awesome", she confidently added  
"I've been in this industry for a long time, I know what talent is all about. **This** girl" Simon said, turning towards his colleagues "This girl has it, but I think she doesn't know that yet."  
"Mama" Kelly interjected, "You were right, you were **so** right! I think we have to do something, we can't let her go like this, she can't waste this chance".

If they were going to convince the girl they had to know why she decided not to go to Boot Camp in the first place, so Simon called the producer back to the room.  
"Sarah we've know each other for what? Six years now? And you know that I always get what I want, and what I want now is that girl on my show. Has she mentioned to you the reason why she wasn't going to attend Boot Camp?"  
"She said it was because she didn't have the money, I assume she was referring to the plane ticket since she's currently staying in Colorado".  
Demi had been fidgeting and nervously tapping her foot until she heard what the producer said. The girl wasn't going to Miami because of **money**? Oh hell no.

"We can pay for her" Demi suddenly said getting up and then added, "Right?"  
"We've never done a thing like this before" the producer replied.  
There were mixed opinions in the room and, while Simon was discussing with Sarah, Demi pulled out her phone and went to the American Airlines website.  
She wasn't going to let this go.

"Six hundred and fifty-six dollars" Demi said after a couple minutes, "This girl is probably giving up on her lifelong dream for six hundred and fifty-six dollars".  
With her phone still in her hands she walked resolutely towards Simon, "You know she's something else Simon, and you know you'd be a fool to let her go. You saw how talented she is and how much the audience loved her. Please, make the right decision."  
Simon looked at his younger fellow judge for a couple seconds and then, turning towards Sarah, he said, "Call her back".

After that statement the only sounds you could hear in the room came from Kelly and Paulina, because Demi was too busy hugging the hell out of the older man to utter a word.

**A/N Ok buddies hope you liked this chapter!  
The song Naya listens to is the beautiful Down by the amazing Jason Walker and Molly Reed! It's one of my favorite songs, give it a try: watch?v=_oSENNxgEvk And there's also a liiitle bit of Demi's Give Your Heart A Break, but that song needs no introduction from me ;)  
Bear hugs to all of you!**


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